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03/11/17 Fri. Over the last few days, I have completed the engine rebuild (except for push rods and rocker arms) repaired damaged wiring and hose clamps. I have rewired the two main bilge pumps and got them working as they should with warning lamps illuminating correctly. The port engine room bilge pump is still without power - if I could trace the wire back I would have a chance of locating the fault but it goes into literally hundreds of others!
05/11/17 Sun. Spent the morning fiddling with the charplotter, forcing it to read another chart covering the area between Kudat and Pulau Tiga - something we didn't have when we brought Dulce up here a year ago.
06/11/17 Mon. Rats, (my favourite animal - NOT!) are a big problem in this yard, we chased three off the boat yesterday and another this morning from the mainsail cover. We lowered the dinghy to the ground and gave it a good cleaning (full of rat crap!), there is also an air leak at the rear of the starboard tube which will need attention.
07/011/17 Tues. Blew a fuse this morning, all the cockpit lights out and half the saloon lights. The distribution panel has about 40 fuses - none of them labelled and no diagrams onboard, so it was a case of removing each in turn and testing them! Finally found it at number 31. John's return from Australia with the spare parts has been further delayed by another day and he will not arrive now until Thursday.
10/11/17 Fri. John brought the parts yesterday but today when I put them in.........another problem showed up - a damaged rocker shaft support, and a seized rocker arm which has bent the shaft! On reflection, these may have been caused by jamming valve stems in the guides - I will remove the head again and check them all //tomorrow. So now we will have to wait again for more spare parts to be delivered./
11/11/17 Sat. Yep, jamming valve stems is the cause! Removed the head again and took all the valves out, then into town for grinding paste and brass brushes etc. No power in the yard for 9 hours today so I couldn't do very much more. Out to the Golf Club for dinner with John in the evening.
12/11/17 Sun. Cleaned all the valve stems, guides, springs etc and ground all the valve seats. Reassembled it all and bolted the head back on again, along with exhaust and other fittings.
13/11/17 Mon. We took a taxi to KK this morning and checked into the Little Gaya Hotel - not my usual one but most were full for some reason. Went to the hardware store that sells SC2000 glue and bought 4 1Kg cans (1 for me, 1 for Bob's dinghy and 2 for Bill). Then we went to Karamunsing in search of a few things and ended up with a new phone for Ana to replace her lost one. Later in the day, the Kudat taxi driver rang me and said he had her phone in the car in Kudat!
14/11/17 Tues. Back to Labuan today, bus to Menumbok then fast boat to Labuan. No power on the pontoon all night, so the boat was very hot and humid.
15/11/17 Weds. Power has been on and off all day long and I'm getting pissed off with it - if they did some maintenance once in a while, this sort of thing wouldn't happen. I went up to the office and made loud noises first thing this morning about the electric and the fact that a water pipe is about to burst, which will cut off our water supply as well. Spent most of the day chasing the needed valve rocker shaft assembly, nobody has it in stock and it has to be ordered from Japan but...........you have to pay first by direct bank transfer - something I cannot do! They will not accept credit or debit cards, or cash!
16/11/17 Thurs. Neil came over and hoisted me up the mast to measure all the standing rigging, we just managed to finish before the rains started! Further visits to the office to complain about the lack of power on B dock produced a little activity but no solution. By 7pm, I'd had enough and moved the boat across the marina to A dock. With a cooling fan at least we would be able to sleep tonight!
19/11/17 Sun. Up the mast again to check dimensions of the mast top clevis pins and the forestay diameter.
20/11/17 Mon. Checked out with immigration and customs, did a little shopping.
21/11/17 Tues. Placed an order with Jimmy Green for new rigging - and expensive item I would rather not have spent the money on! Sailed at 0945 and made our way to Muara, the seas were calm and very little wind, just 8 knts or so and on the nose as usual. Anchored off the yacht club early afternoon.
22/11/17 Weds. Inflated the dinghy and went to immigration first thing this morning, back onboard by 0900 after just a little run around by the offices there. Spent the afternoon in the yacht club chatting with friends. The bridge work continues, only the last few segments to go before it connects with land at the Muara end.
23/11/17 Thurs. While ashore at the yacht club, we saw four otters playing on the ramp, whistling at the dogs and enticing them into the water....only to out swim them!
26/11/17 Sun. Paul gave us a lift this morning, then loaned us his car to go to Supasave for our sausages and bacon! Spent the afternoon in the yacht club.
27/11/17 Mon. Went to immigration just after 2pm today to check out in preparation for sailing tomorrow morning, all went well until the last hurdle - a jobsworth immigration woman who wouldn't stamp our passports because "it was too early" and told us to come back at 5pm. So, back to the boat for a couple of hours, then back to immigration for the stamp.........what flaming difference did that make - it's still today's date on the stamp!! Not a good ambassador for her country and people like her make me so angry!
28/11/17 Tues. Weighed anchor at 0645 and made our way out to sea, passing the visiting Indian Navy stealth warship INS Satpura (F48) on the way. With little or no wind, we motored the 20 miles or so to Labuan in scorching heat, arriving in the marina there around 1030hrs.
29/11/17 Weds. Check in with immigration - they are getting a bit picky nowadays! When we checked out on the 20th, they told us we had to be out of the country for seven nights. Today we were questioned about how long it took us to reach Brunei, how long to come back, why did we not stay in Brunei for the seven nights. All well in the end, and new visas for us both.
30/11/17 Thurs. Wiring again today! When I fitted the deck wash pump, I utilised an old 3-pin socket which was 12v and no longer needed. I changed the socket for a household on/off switch, tried and tested it and all was OK. When I needed it in anger as we hoisted anchor in Brunei, it wouldn't work! Later that day we discovered that none of the saloon lights would work either. Someone (previous owner) had wired the old socket into the interior light system which has a 5amp fuse, and as the pump draws a lot more than that, the fuse had blown. Why wire a socket into a lighting system? Anyway, took the old (no longer needed) wiring out from the cabin light switch and installed a 15amp fused direct line from pump switch to battery bus bars. All working again now.
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